Its different when you are on the inside looking out...

...as opposed to the outside looking in when it comes to doom. I live in New Jersey and when I heard about the storm at first, I did not think much of it. I saw all the threads here including the monster Frankenstorm thread from Doorbert and really did not think it was going to be that bad.

1 or 2 days before the storm was going to hit, my GLP instincts kicked in...I started thinking about the possibilities and I have always said to myself, "Expect the worst and hope for the best.". The day of the storm I went prepper crazy. I was up all night thinking about where I lived and how many people lived in my area (overpopulated to say the least). This would be a disaster if I was not ready....

So, the first thing I did early morning was to check what time my local Supermarket was open online...6 A.M....OK. At 5:30 A.M. I went to the gas station, handed my card to the gas station attendant and told him to fill it up. 10 Seconds later he said, "Declined", shit. Pulled over to the side and called my bank and was told they were doing system maintenance and they were experiencing problems all over the country. I asked if I could go to another bank and try to withdraw cash, I was told nothing would work. Hung up and said to myself, yeah right. I went directly to another bank and put my card in and withdrew 100 dollars and it worked, nice. Started walking out, stopped, went back and took another 100, just to be on the safe side, I did not think my bank was gonna get their shit together any time soon.

Went back to the gas station and filled the tank. Off to the supermarket, got 2 weeks worth of food, candles, flashlight, and the other necessities.

I also got a big ol bag of weed, completely necessary.

Sandy then came. I was outside all night watching the storm, watching transformer blow and the wind...awesome, being around it and in it was exciting and scary as hell. Yes we lost power, but we were ready.

It breaks my heart to see how many have suffered, I weep for all of you who have suffered and think of you constantly.

Thank you GLP for giving me GLPTardedness that I have. Without it, I would have been up shit's creek no doubt.